Universal Horror Collection: Volume 2 - BLU-RAY

Four-disc set includes The Black Cat (1934) Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi teamed up for the first time in director Edgar G. Ulmer's macabre Pre-code chiller that borrows the title (and little else) from Edgar Allan Poe. A Balkan castle, built over a WWI graveyard, is the site for a bizarre battle of wills between psychiatrist Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Lugosi) and devil-worshipping cult leader Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff). With David Manners, Julie Bishop. 65 min. BW/Rtg NR The Raven (1935) Grand exercise in terror and suspense stars Bela Lugosi as Dr. Richard Vollin, a plastic surgeon obsessed with the works of Poe and a beautiful patient (Irene Ware) who spurns his advances. Vollin invites the woman, her fiancé, and her father to his retreat and, with the aid of a criminal (Boris Karloff), he disfigured, imprisons, and tortures them. With Irene Ware, Samuel Hinds. 62 min. BW/Rtg NR The Invisible Ray (1936) When his time-spanning technology pinpoints the African location of a radium-bearing meteorite, researcher Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) silences his critics. However, prolonged radiation exposure imbues him with a paranoia that turns him against his inner circle... and a death touch that let's him make good on his demented threats. Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Violet Kemble Cooper, Beulah Bondi also star. 80 min. BW/Rtg NR Black Friday (1940) Scientist Dr. Ernest Sovac (Boris Karloff) transfers the brain of a gangster into the body of an English professor injured in a car accident. When the academician takes on the characteristics of the hood and seeks revenge against a rival mobster (Bela Lugosi), Sovac faces the consequences of his well-intended but diabolical experiment. Stanley Ridges, Anne Nagel also star. 70 min. BW/Rtg NR Standard; Soundtrack English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles English (SDH).

Four-disc set includes The Lady And The Monster (1944)A scientist (Erich von Stroheim) got the chance to test his radical theories on post-mortem brain preservation when a banker's plane went down near his lab. The experiments worked beyond his dreams, as the corrupt financier's consciousness made a powerless cat's-paw of the researcher's assistant (Richard Arlen). First filming of InchDonovan's BrainInch co-stars Vera Hruba Ralston, Helen Vinson, Sidney Blackmer. 86 min. C/Rtg NR The Phantom Speaks (1945)Scientist Paul Renwick (Stanley Ridges) believed that the strongest wills could exist beyond death, and he made condemned killer Harvey Bogardus (Tom Powers) a research subject. He'd be proven right, to his horror, as the spirit of the executed Bogardus possessed him... and made him a hapless tool of vengeance against those who sent Harvey to the chair. Long-sought Republic chiller co-stars Richard Arlen, Lynne Roberts, Jonathan Hale. 69 min. BW/Rtg NR The Catman Of Paris (1946)In 1896 Paris, someone-or something-has embarked on a horrific killing spree in which victims are seemingly clawed to death. When the police learn that famed author Charles Regnier's (Carl Esmond) amnesia spells coincide with the slayings, he becomes the chief suspect. But is he really to blame? Atmospheric chiller co-stars Lénore Aubert, Adele Mara, Douglass Dumbrille. 64 min. BW/Rtg NR Valley Of The Zombies (1946)When doctor Terry Evans (Robert Livingston) and his nurse Susan Drake (Adrian Booth) are placed under suspicion for the murder of his partner Dr. Maynard (Charles Trowbridge), he's determined to identify the real killer. The trail leads to ex-patient Ormand Murks (Ian Keith), who's certifiably insane... but ready and willing to act on his belief that voodoo and human blood will prolong his life. Creepy Republic programmer also stars Thomas Jackson. 56 min. BW/Rtg NR Standard; S

Universal 10-Film Sci-Fi Collection (Bl